Stadium vendor argues case

AUDREY MALONE

Last updated 05:00 26/06/2014

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One of the food vendors at Aorangi Stadium has pleaded her case against moving sites to Timaru District councillors.

The council has proposed moving the food vendors to one site for safety reasons, but Alikatz owner Ali Hitchcock considers this unfair and fronted up to the public forum section of Tuesday's council meeting.

Alikatz is one of four food vendors operating at the venue.

The proposed new site for them would be the northern end of the new hockey turf, a position the council said was chosen in the interests of pedestrian safety.

Hitchcock said she had been nervous about making the presentation because of what had previously been discussed.

In her presentation Hitchcock said it was proposed that she should move from a location, approved in 2013, after being told by the council there had been complaints made against Alikatz by a competitor.

She raised several reasons why Alikatz should not be moved, including not being advised of any infractions or safety issues, and that she had complied with all the council's rules.

She said more than half the complaints the council said it had received came from competitors.

Hitchcock also questioned what she had done wrong to justify the decision to move her from her approved location.

She proposed the current system stay in place and the council enforce the rules it implemented in May 2013.

She said if Alikatz had to move it would suffer financially and she did not believe it was fair and reasonable for ratepayers and sporting organisations to cover the cost of new power outlets.

Hitchcock pleaded with the council to support Alikatz because small business was the backbone of the economy.

TDC parks and recreation manager Bill Steans said Hitchcock had reiterated that she was happy with the status quo which he was already aware of.

He said the development committee had discussed the issue at the last meeting at the beginning of June.

Steans said the committee had requested more information, which he would present to it, including information from the Alikatz presentation.

"Hopefully the decision will be made at the next meeting on the 29th of July, all going well," he said.